Saikyoji Temple Naishika Connecting Corridor

A Three-Shaku Corridor Between the Shoin and the Abbot's Section

Saikyoji Temple Naishika Connecting Corridor (西教寺内司課渡廊下, Saikyō-ji Naishika Watari-rōka) is a covered timber walkway of around 1930 at Saikyō-ji, the head temple of the Tendai Shinsei school in Sakamoto-honmachi, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on August 28, 2001.

It runs from the northwest corner of the Shoin to the southwest corner of the Naishika Guest Hall, the chief abbot's office. The Shoin, built in 1916, is a front-of-house reception building; the Naishika is the private section set aside for the abbot. The Saikyoji Temple Naishika Connecting Corridor was built with the other Naishika buildings to join the two.

It is a single-storey tiled structure with a building area of 13 square metres, and only about 3 shaku wide, roughly 90 centimetres: room for one person at a time.

Why the Naishika Connecting Corridor Was Registered

The Saikyoji Temple Naishika Connecting Corridor was registered as a building that serves as a model of its type, and the reason is its frame, which is far more considered than a short passage needs to be.

Square posts carry boat-shaped brackets (Funahijiki) that support the eave beams. The two eave beams are tied across the corridor by curved tie beams (Kōryō), and on each tie beam a decorative strut (Kaerumata) and another bracket hold up the ridge. The eaves use widely spaced rafters (Taruki) finished with thin battens.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs singles out the graceful shape of the struts and tie beams, and the fact that every member has chamfered edges. In a corridor where the timber is within arm's reach, those softened corners matter.

What to Look For

Look up. Because the ridge rests on struts set on the tie beams, the structure itself is the ceiling decoration. For such a short passage, the Saikyoji Temple Naishika Connecting Corridor gains real presence from that framing.

Then look at the edges. Posts, tie beams and eave beams all have their corners pared back, so the outlines soften when light falls across them. A route used by the abbot between his office and the Shoin was given the same level of craft as the buildings on public view.

Visiting the Naishika Connecting Corridor

The Saikyoji Temple Naishika Connecting Corridor leads into the chief abbot's private section and cannot be used by ordinary visitors. It is not among the stops on the temple heritage guide's map.

The Shoin itself is on the visitor route, but the corridor leaves from its private north side. Any request to see it should go to the temple.